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Turkish youth unemployment nears 25 percent

The rate of youth unemployment in Turkey has soared above the European average to reach 24.5 percent, a report by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has shown.

The report, prepared by CHP deputy chairman and work bureau coordinator Veli Ağbaba, showed that Turkey’s youth unemployment rate compared unfavourably to all but five European Union countries, said Turkish left-wing daily BirGün.

The EU countries with high youth unemployment were the worst-hit by the 2008 financial crisis, and while unemployment is falling in these countries, the report shows that in Turkey the opposite is true.

Around 1.2 million young people are unemployed in Turkey, figures from the Turkish state-run statistical institute for 2018 show.

The 24.5 percent youth unemployment rate has climbed every year since 2015, when the rate was at 19.6 percent, and saw a major jump from 20.7 percent in 2017 to 24.5 percent last year.

The figures also showed no rise in the number of young Turks in higher education.

The number of youths neither in employment or studying climbed from 23.1 percent in 2017 to 24.9 percent last year.

Turkey's economy entered a recession in the final quarter of last year, when it shrank by 2.4 percent.